High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Dave Dombrowski On His Relationship With Bryce Harper | WIP Morning Show

Episode Date: March 19, 2024

Phillies president Dave Dombrowski discusses the Phillies offseason, his relationship with Bryce Harper and more in an interview with the WIP Morning Show. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He is the president of baseball operations of the Philadelphia Phillies, Dave Dabrowski. Good morning, Dave. Good morning. How are you? I'm doing great. How about yourself? You look tanned and you look happy. Well, I'm tanned and I guess I'm happy.

But this is the week of decisions. So, I mean, we're in a different spot. You kind of go along all spring. And so there'll be a lot of tough choices this coming week. We have a meeting in fact today. And so, yeah, I'm tanned because you're out every single day watching baseball. You can't help it but be in a position where, okay, now we're down to the nitty-gritty. Is there stress that comes with that element?

I mean, not just stress. Is it difficult for you to inform a player he does not make the team? Yes. And do you inform that or is that Rob Thompson's job to have that direct conversation or do you do it together? Well, we do it together. And with the players, if it's an optional assignment, unless there's some real complicated rules, Rob Thompson will have that conversation and I'll be there.

Sam Fould will be there. And we usually have the positional coach there too. So if it's a pitcher, Caleb Cotham will be there, a hitter, infielder, let's say Bobby Dickerson, outfielder let's say bobby dickerson outfielder paco figueroa so we're all in there together and talk to the player but yeah that's um you never cherish those conversations some of them are real easy because the guy knows he's going yeah i mean those are simple like good luck at triple a we'll thank you for what you have done for us and then there's others that guys are not real happy and i've had yelling and screaming and all of those type of things that just comes with it once in a while but i i don't

consider it per se um it's not like a stressful situation it's part of the responsibility but it's uh um not one of the better response not one of the better response parts of the responsibilities dave dumbrowski here dave you have embarked on many seasons as a leader of a club, baseball operations. What is your mindset with this team this year, nine days from opening day, your mindset as you embark on the next six and obviously you hope seven months? Well, we have a good club. We have a very good club. That's apparent. I don't think that there's any question about that. Like any year, and you can't spend too much time worrying about this because you'll never make it through the day, you're always concerned about injuries. You don't want to get the wrong guys hurt. And so if all of a sudden you lose your stars, those are difficult

to replace. But again, every general manager, president, baseball operations are sitting in that same spot. So you just go about it. But we have a really good, deep team. I like our club a lot. I think it's a club that has the combination of some veteran winning players that know how to win, been through a lot, and some younger players that continue to develop, a la Marsh and Baum and Stott, and some young guys just breaking in,

like the Rojas' and the Sanchez's and the Kirkings so it's a real good blend of those guys and they know one another they're tough but we have to go out and do it you can talk all you want but you have to go out there and you have to perform and I think that we will how likely is it Pache wins the center field competition with the way he's played? That is a great question, and I cannot even answer that as we sit here. That is one of those that we, believe me, will spend a lot of time talking about that question in a meeting starting today and tomorrow.

It's been unusual. A lot of times you'd have better feel of what's going on. I mean, I have a pulse of what's going on. But we were ravished by the flu here. We had 20 guys down at times here. So, and it's over about a 10, 12-day period, which in spring training is quite a long time. So it's delayed some of the thought processes that we've had

and the meetings that we had. So it's guys gotten better. Then we had the across-the-state trip, which breaks your club up Friday and Saturday. We had a split squad yesterday. So we have 56 players in camp at this time, and that's a lot with a week to go. So we have to get from 56 to 26. Some of them will be easy. There's some easy decisions, and there's also some people that are on the injured list that we'll have to make official.

But there's going to be some heavy conversations on who's the last couple guys on the team, who's the last couple guys in the bullpen, and how we go about doing that. So you've talked, I've heard you talk about saving the powder a little bit, but we got the news that Blake Snell has signed uh jordan montgomery is still out there uh the rotation looks set but what would it take for you to consider pulling the trigger on a jordan montgomery well i think we're really comfortable where we are right now it's just a situation i mean as as great an ownership group we have led by John

Middleton, and he will give you about anything that you ask. I mean, you still have to realize there's some fiscal responsibility when you're at my spot. So you want to try to put them in not too difficult a position. And when you look at where we are and what we've tried to do, the reality is, that's why when I say our starting pitch, and if it stays healthy, it's really good. And we like Spencer Turnbull. He's been out there now. He's healthy.

He's coming back. He was a good big league pitcher, so he gives us some depth there. We signed some other depth guys that if we need somebody to come up and pitch a game out of the bullpen, that will be good. And we do have a young developing starter like a Mick Abel, who's I don't think very far away, actually. He's really coming on, and he's going to be a good pitcher. And, of course, as we go in the future in 25, we'll talk about Andrew Painter.

But for this year, he will not help us. But all of a sudden, you have to be in a position where I think that you're trying to win now, you're trying to get that responsibility of doing that, but you're also looking at trying to put all those pieces together. So I think we're comfortable where we are from a starting pitching perspective. Dave Dubrowski here. You mentioned Abel and Painter. What about Griff McGarry?

Do you expect that he'll contribute this season? I think he will, but I think he, at this point, we're looking at more of him in the bullpen right now. We've made that move to put him back there. We think that, the part of, he's got great stuff. His stuff is not the issue. The issue is throwing strikes. And so what we've determined with him is, rather than him worry about pacing himself for three, four, five, seven innings and worrying about throwing strikes, let's just go in there for an inning and let it go. And when go in there for an inning and let it go.

And when he comes in for an inning and lets it go, a la Craig Kimbrell, we think we're in a better position with him, and I think it makes him feel more comfortable. So I don't look at him as really starting pitch and depth. Can't say it won't change in the future. We picked up a young guy in a trade before the 40-man roster was filled by a name of Michael Mercado from the Tampa Bay Club.

We like him a great deal, too. We'll stretch him out a little bit more. But he's in the upper 90s with good break and stuff. And he'll be a triple-A for us. 94 WIP HD1 Philadelphia as we broadcast today, away from the Tasty Cake studio, down in Clearwater, home of Philly's spring training baseball. Our coverage today brought to you by Surfside,

proud partner of the Philadelphia Phillies. We've got the boss of the Phillies right behind John Middleton, the president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski with us. Dave, one thing about the pitching staff that's baffled me for some time, because it's an excellent staff, and Ranger's a heck of a pitcher, is that he just doesn't go as deep in games as Wheeler and Nola. And I don't think anyone would say he's as good, but he's pretty darn good. What is the why for that, and what is the step Ranger needs to take?

For instance, when a playoff game happens, instead of going three and a third or three and two thirds, he gets the six or the seven that Wheeler and Nola pretty consistently get. Well, we're looking for him to do that too. I mean, really is what it comes down to. I think part of Ranger's situation, and he is a really good pitcher, and he's pitched well in the postseason. As you know, he's had one of the best records in the history of the game in postseason for the number of games he's pitched.

Part of Ranger's situation has been inconsistency of staying healthy. And so it's really affected his continued growth. And so in one sense, when you look at the beginning of last year, well, he came to camp, got ready for the WBC, came up tender. Well, all of a sudden he takes a while to get ready. So he's in a position where he needs to stay that consistent, go out there every five, six days, pitches five, six, seven innings. And I think that will continue to put him at that next level. And that's what we want him to do because we really think he has those type of capabilities. He has good control.

Now, once in a while, that will waver on him, and that will prevent him from going deeper into the game. But I think it's for a matter for him. He has the stuff. he has the ability he just needs to go out there on a consistent basis on that that's one thing about Nolan Wheeler they go out there on a consistent basis so all of a sudden that 150 turns into 180 190 and then I think it also translates then okay we're going into the postseason and here you go there's's your six, seven innings. How established is Christopher Sanchez, and what can he become long-term?

Well, I can't say he's established yet because he's only done it really for us for half a season. So to me, I think what he needs to do is go out there every five days for us this year to establish himself. He showed us the capability last year of being able to pitch at the major league level as a starting pitcher. He has better command than he used to have. He used to be real wild and he's changed that. His change up is a real out pitch. That's his best pitch by far. The good thing with him this spring training, which has been encouraging, he's not only continuing to throw with his command, but he's a guy that, with that changeup, his velocity is now starting to pick back up. He's in the mid-90s.

So if all of a sudden he's 95, 94, 96, rather than 91 to 93 on a consistent basis, I think that's where he'll continue to take that step up. And unfortunately, he was another guy that this spring has been hurt by the flu so he ended up he's not quite as advanced this spring as we would like him to be his last outing was not very good didn't get get real lucky but he needs to get out there now he's going to stretch out he may not be quite as deep pitching into games to start the season because of having the flu but he's made real good strides for us There's something that we were talking about on our show about two or three weeks ago when Bryce Harper made the comment referencing at that time two

high-level free agent pitchers still available, now one left. Without saying them by name, he implied that he'd like to see the organization sign them. You know, on one hand, a lot of people say, great, let's go get the best players available. On the other hand, there were some people, and I was one of them, that said, it's kind of not cool when you've got a fourth and fifth starter that are your fourth and fifth starter, and you're in a locker room with them.

And, of course, I'm talking about Tyjuan Walker and Christopher Sanchez. When Bryce makes a comment like that, what is your reaction and your interpretation of that comment and whether he's being the right kind of leader or not in that moment when he says that publicly well i of course know bryce very gotten to know him very well he's not only a great player he's also a unique as far as his ability with the game and thought processes and all that and i and really i reached this stature. I had dinner with some friends last night, with my wife and some friends, and we talked about how players now,

some of them will send me a text. I mean, Harper gets the attention, but I have other players that do that too. Frankly, at this stage in my career, it's great. I don't really care because the reality is that the responsibility still lies on my shoulders to make that final decision. And of course, John Middleton's and we work and Sam Full. So I think in Bryce's case, when you know him, he is driven to be the best player he possibly can to put together an all-star club that never loses a game and i think with bryce what people in the clubhouse

basically they respect that part of him they understand that part of him but i mean like i i always tell people well i do have a budget you know i mean i i mean and we have a great home yeah it's a very high budget that's right that's right so so and it's it's my son at a young age and i don't mean to compare that with say and i've told the story and people well why don't you dad he was about 10 years old and he says to me uh we played the cardinals and tony larusso was a good friend of mine we were on the field before the game and tony says oh landon why don't you meet albert poolols and Landon shook his hand and got his picture taken with him it was really great he still has it up in his room and he says uh dad why don't we trade for uh Albert Pujols and I said that's a great idea I said do you have an idea he

says well why don't we trade Ramon Santiagoantiago who was our utility player for him at the time and i said landon if you can make that trade you don't even need to call me just go ahead so so i appreciate the the thought processes in that regard but it's just a different level of responsibility that you have and so and i think that our players in the clubhouse they don't take it at all personally they don't take it as he's not saying something good about me it's more like well sure i mean you got a couple of best pitchers in the game of baseball fantastic and he's not thinking of that ramifications and i don't think that anybody in the clubhouse takes it personally when he's you ever say to him hey hey, big guy, I got it.

Or put another way, do you ever want to say that to him and choose not to? Well, yes. Yeah, we have. And at times he will say to me, which I have a great deal of respect for him. Bryce is very knowledgeable about the game of baseball. He is very knowledgeable. He'll say, if you think I'm overstepping my bounds, please tell me. I like that. That's interesting.

That's really great. I love that. Yeah. So, I mean, so, yes, he has made that comment to me. And I said, I'll gladly say something to you if I think you've gone too far. Has that happened? Not really. No.

No, because he does it to me in a way in which he'll send me a text. Hey, what do you think about this? Yeah. Great. I mean, for example, we were talking about, and I know it came out, we had been talking to Whit Merrifields about his situation, a sign-in with us, right? And looking for more money than we wanted, a longer-term contract. It was going nowhere at that particular point and we were talking about different people and I

actually asked a couple of our guys about an extra player that was out there and Bryce says, well, what about Whit Merrifield? He didn't even know we were talking to Whit. I said, well, I love Whit Merrifield, but XYZ. He says, well, would you mind if I reach out to him? I said, no, I have no

that'd be great. know I said don't make him any promises because I can't give him any promises at this point but no I'd be happy if if you did that and it makes a big difference when a Bryce Harper JT RealMoto or Kyle Schwarber or Trey Turner or Zach I mean it it shows how we're all in this together and, I don't feel that they've ever disrespected or, I mean, I'm open-minded. And perhaps if I was 30 and just starting the job, I'd be like, I'm not so sure how I feel about that. But the reality is you've been through it enough. You say, okay, it's part of the process.

And I don't mean this to sound in a negative, but Bryce Harper is probably going to be here longer than me, right? He probably will be. Yeah. So he should feel comfortable with what's going on in that regard. So he's a great player. He's a great leader. And shoot, I couldn't think of anybody I'd rather have up at the plate in a big spot for him. Dave Dombreski.

Dave, so that's sort of you managing down. Let's talk about managing up. So John Middleton, as we talked about, gives you an unbelievable budget. I'm curious. We know how competitive he is, or at least we have a sense of how competitive he is. Does he ever George Steinbrenner you? We field thousands of calls on an annual basis, and when the season ended, I skewed much more toward the positive of what you guys had accomplished last year.

But we had a lot of callers very, very, very angry that you lost at the end of last year. Very angry. And I'm curious, does your boss, George Steinbrenner, you would put pressure on you like, yeah, it was good, but we didn't win at all. Go win at all, guy. Does he give you that? No, not really. I mean, I know he wants to win and win at all, as I do, and we all want to do that.

So, no, I mean, when I say that, I know where his thoughts lie. I mean, he doesn't want to just win the National League. Nor do I. So I think in some senses, I mean, we're very similar in that regard. I mean, believe me, I've been in the World Series five times, right? I feel a lot better when we've won two and lost three. It's a whole different feeling. In reality, it is.

It's a whole different spot. Now, we have not won the division the last couple of years. We've won the division last couple years won the division plenty of times been in the postseason plenty of time there's no feeling like winning at all so no he doesn't now he one thing he will do is um challenge to make sure we're putting the best club on the field so if we're we're signing trerey Turner, let's just say, a year ago, and I'm looking where the dollars are going, and I'm feeling maybe a little uncomfortable is where they're going.

John is like, do you really like the guy? He says, yeah, I think he's a tremendous player. I'm not sure about yours, 10-11 down the road or 9-10-11. He's like, well, if you really like him, let's go get him. And let me know what I can do to help. So I think he's an ideal owner in that regard. And, no, I never feel the George Steinbrenner type of move, but I also feel he's very competitive.

Whatever your beliefs are and, like, you think John Middleton's competitive, he is competitive. You are right. You are right. That's how he is. But that's great. That's what we're all trying to do. And the players know it too.

Dave, let's talk about, and a few final moments here with Dave Dombrowski, we talked about Pache earlier. Let's talk about Rojas for a moment. Or let's talk about a player like Rojas. Your personal philosophy, if you make a determination, a player that's young and developing won't be an everyday player. Do you prefer that he be a player that plays 40% of the time at the big league level or 100% of the time at the minor league level?

Obviously, you know I'm alluding to Rojas and the potential of whether he'll make the club or not. What's your belief and what's best for that type of player's development? Normally, because there can always be exceptions, I would say I would rather have a young player go down and play 100% of the time than I would be at the big league level and play 100% of the time than I would be at the big league level and play 40% of the time normally. Now, sometimes there's a reason from a developmental perspective, you want to expose him to some things, you think he can better learn what's taking place. But all in all, I think it's normally better to go down. The real key, which is even a difficult

thing for me to answer, is that there's such a difference between the AAA and the major leagues nowadays. Now, it has been that way for a while, but it's a broadening gap. So you can do things at AAA and be very successful, but it doesn't necessarily translate that when you come to the big leagues, you're going to be doing the same things. necessarily translate that when you come to the big leagues you're going to be doing the same things so that's one of the difficulties that always comes because if you told me any well just you're using raw hey we're going to send him out for two weeks and he's going to go back and he's going to learn x y and z and he's going to come back and then he's going to be this well it's real simple let's send him out the problem is he might learn x y and z a triple a but then when he comes to the big leagues well you've got to learn something different again well, it's real simple. Let's send him out. The problem is he might learn X, Y, and Z at AAA,

but then when he comes to the big leagues, well, you've got to learn something different again. He's not facing Verlander down there. That's right. That's right. And that gap has become so wide, and those guys are so much more talented than the guys down there. Those are the type of questions that, believe me, we'll be talking about today in our meetings and saying, okay, what's the best thing to do?

How important is it to you to have a set closer? It is not anymore. I think the game has changed in that regard significantly. Many years ago in my career, it was really important. You built your bullpen differently, major league. You had a closer, you had a set-up guy, and then kind of went from there. Nowadays, I think the majority of clubs, I mean, if I had Mariano Rivera, we might be thrilled, believe me. major league you had a closer you had a setup guy and then kind of went from there nowadays i think the majority of clubs i mean if i had mariano riviera we had it might be thrilled believe me

you know but i think all in all it's more important to get those outs however you do that and matchups have become so much more important and i think it's more important to have a club like ours where again take riviera but you can close with Alvarado. You can close with Soto. You can close with Strom. You can close with Sir Anthony. You can close with Hoffman. And eventually, I think, close with Kerkering. And they all have the capabilities to do that.

And you're better off with a deeper bullpen like that than you are having that one-set guy. Hey, Dave, good luck this season. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. We appreciate you stopping by for a few minutes. I mean, I don't have to tell you, but I will say it. The town is very excited. Well, thank much. Thanks for having me. We appreciate you stopping by for a few minutes. I mean, I don't have to tell you, but I will say it. The town is very excited. Well, thank you. Thanks for having me. We're looking forward

to getting back. There he is. President of Baseball Operations for the Phillies, Dave Dombrowski.